New Beginnings
by Obsidian Crystal
Summary: When politics and the Notorious Lord Gregory of Camiro intertwine Jasmine is forced to journey endless distances and go to extraordinary lengths to be reunited with her youngest child.Please Read and Review! :D
1. There Is Something Going On

**A/N**: Hey everyone. This is my first ever story that I have written on so go a_ little_ easy on me I hope you like it! It does have a little bit of fluff between Leif and Jasmine but it mainly focuses on Jarred and a little bit on the other two children. ENJOY! (If you don't I am sorry)

**DISCLAIMER: **Emily Rodda is the fantastically talented creator of the Deltora Quest series I am just using her characters to fulfil the purposes of this story.

_**There Is Something Going On**_

"Jarred- Jarred, what _are you_ doing," Jasmine almost felt like crying. She had spent the whole morning trying to keep her youngest son from getting filthy and the moment she had turned around to tighten Anna's sash, he had run downstairs and started playing in the garden. It had rained last night and the grounds were muddy and wet and her ten minutes ago spotless son was now covered in green and brown muck.

"I am making mud pieth, mummy!" said the three-year old boy blithely. "Do you want to play with me, it ith loth of fun!" "Jarred, sweetheart," Jasmine said trying to control herself, "you promised me and Daddy that you were going to be good for the Camiro ambassadors' visit today." Jarred looked confused, "But I not being ba-ad!" he whined, " I am makin' a featht for the 'bassedors! The thtuff the cookth made for the latht ambassadors wath not very nithe, so I making thomething yummy for them! Do you want a try?" Jasmine looked at the mud her son was holding out to her, he had such an eager to please look on his face that she could not help smiling. "No thank-you, sweetheart, I am not very hungry." She bent down and picked her dirty little boy up, thanking the Gods that she had not gotten dressed for the "visit" yet. "Come along, laddy, you have to get cleaned up before your father sees you like this. He would be furious, he has been very tense lately."

"Too late," a voice said behind her, "Jarred WHY areyou so _filthy_?" Leif demanded. "You said you were going to be good. Jasmine, why did you not keep an eye on him?" Leif was angry, he had been up all night worrying about the ambassadors visit and did not feel as if he could handle this. "I did keep an eye on him, I had to attend to Anna and Endon, you know your other two children," Jasmine snapped at her husband, he had not been very attentive to his wife and children lately. Lief sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "Go and get dressed dear, I'm sorry I yelled at you. I'll take Jarred up and get him ready and we can have another one of our little talks." He looked down at his son, who did not seem the least bit concerned as his mother put him on the ground and started walking up to the palace, he promptly held out his hand for his father to take and started to explain the art of making 'mud pieth" to him. Leif just let him talk as he wearily walked his chatty son up to the palace.

"The proposition should be made to King Leif in regard to his youngest son, Prince Jarred. As he is the last in line for the throne there will not be as much question of the safety of Deltora in regard to the heirship," stated Ambassador Lord Gregory of Rulent. "Lord Gregory, must this proposition be made. Do we really need the support of Deltora that badly. For over twenty years we have done well without them. Is the state of Camiro so bad that we need the help of this heathen country," demanded Sir Nikko of Contet. "Yes Nikko, we do. So keep your big, uncouth mouth closed and act charming for once in your life. We need our proposition to work," Lord Gregory snapped. "Do you understand Nikko?" He did not reply, Nikko's pride had been badly hurt. "I asked you a question Nikko. Do you understand?" Lord Gregory's voice was deadly quiet, Nikko still did not reply, everyone present in the small ship's cabin could feel the tension in the air. Suddenly Sir Nikko gasped and clawed at his throat, his face was turning blue, he could not breathe. "Do you understand me?" Lord Gregory roared his face red with rage. "Yes," gasped Sir Nikko, Lord Gregory relaxed his magical grip on Nikko's throat, "yes," Sir Nikko said still trying to get air into his aching lungs. "Good," said Lord Gregory quietly. "This will happen. We need it to happen."

**A/N:** Okay. Whaddaya think? Please review. If you have any CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM for me it would be really appreciated. If you like it I will probably update quickly coz I am on school holidays. YAY! But I won't update if I don't get at least three reviews. Does that sound reasonable?

TTFN Ta Ta For Now!


	2. The Arrival

_**The Arrival**_

"Fetch Lady Marissa," ordered Lord Gregory. "We will be arriving at the docks soon, make sure she looks presentable. She must make a good impression on the Royal Family." The ship carrying the diplomatic convoy from Camiro was rapidly nearing the Toran shores, bringing a wave of trying politics and difficult decisions with it.

* * *

On the other side of the country, a tired father was trying to explain the importance of making a good impression on people and of being obedient of one's parents. "Jarred, we have talked about this again and again," Leif, once again, lectured his young son, scrubbing him in an attempt to get the thick, brown mud off his face and hands. "When we have important visitors coming, you have to make a nice first impression on them, and part of that is…" "Drething nithely and being good and not getting dirty," finished Jarred tiredly, he had obviously heard this lecture many times before.

Leif looked at Jarred, wondering if he was expecting too much from his very young son. He decided that obedience was a virtue that he could expect from his three-year old and continued, "yes and you have not done any of that, well you _were _dressed nicely, but then you disobeyed your Mother and myself and went downstairs and started making mud-pies and got yourself completely filthy. You are a prince of Deltora and you have to start acting like one." " But…" Jarred interrupted, "I know you are only little Jarred, you remind me of that constantly, actually you remind me of that every time you do something wrong." Leif's over-strung nerves were starting to get the better of him, he was starting to yell at Jarred, "But you know what my _little_ boy; Endon is exactly the same age as you and he manages to stay clean when he is told, he manages to stay put when your Mother tells him to. Now, by the Gods, if you do not start behaving I will belt you so hard you will not sit down for a month of Sundays." Now angry at himself for yelling at Jarred, whose tearful expression was not helping him feel any better; he pulled Jarred out of the bath and started drying him off. He roughly pulled a nice, clean shirt over Jarred's head and helped him into a loincloth and tan breaches, he dragged a comb through his son's hair and helped him into his shoes and socks, double knotting the laces on the very small boots. "There," he said roughly, "now go down to the Great Hall and wait there with your brother and sister until your Mother and I get down there." Jarred wavered for a moment, "Now," yelled his father. Jarred ran, tears in his eyes, his father had _never_ yelled at him like that before.

Jasmine was already at the Great Hall when her son came in with tears running down his face. "Jarred, sweet, what happened," Jasmine was very concerned, she swept him up into her arms and held him, he rapped his arms around her neck, "Daddy told…me…that if…I…I….wath not….good that he would….he would…..thmack me," Jarred sobbed out. Jasmine sighed inwardly, Leif was very stressed about this meeting and both the court and his family were suffering for it. Jasmine had not been feeling happy lately, she felt as if her husband did not trust her with something, that he was hiding something from her. He was acting exactly as he had seven years ago, when he was trying to protect Marilyn by hiding her identity and what he was doing during those long hours in the palace library. Jasmine closed her eyes and took a deep breath, reminding herself that her husband had a lot of responsibility and that she should not yell at him when he walked through that door. She opened her eyes and looked at Jarred, "Daddy did not _really _mean what he said. He is just…..." Jasmine searched for a word that Jarred would understand, "scared," she finally finished. Jarred's sobbing relaxed, "Thcared?" he asked. "Daddy ith not thcared of _anything._" "Are you sure?" Jasmine asked. "I think that he is. I think that he is scared of something going wrong with this meeting and these people not liking us and trying to hurt Deltora. He worries about you and he is scared of something happening to you. That is why Daddy and I get mad at you when you disobey us because, most of the time, what we tell you to do is for your own safety. To make sure you do not get hurt," she added noticing the confused look on Jarred's face. "Oh," said Jarred the tears completely gone now. "He ith thcared of thomething bad happening to me and Deltora and Donni and Annie. Ith that why he hath been angry lately?" " Yes," Jasmine said with a smile. "He really loves you very, _very_ much. Do you feel better now?" "Yeth mummy, much better!" "Good," Jasmine smiled and held him tighter.

Leif walked through the door and spotted Jasmine giving Jarred a hug. "Jasmine, he is in trouble _put him down_. Jasmine felt like slapping Leif, and Jarred's tears threatened to erupt again. "Shhhhh, sweetie its okay," Jasmine soothed him as she placed him on the floor, "go and play with Donnie, hmm?" Jarred nodded glumly and walked over to where his brother and sister had been gawking at him.

Suddenly, a messenger walked in, "Announcing the arrival of the convoy of Camiro, Greetings to His Majesty King Leif of Deltora and his Wife, Queen Jasmine from Lord Gregory of Rulent and his niece, Princess Marissa of Camiro." The door opened and a man who had a hawk nose and mistrusting grey eyes walked into the room, carrying a small toddler who was wearing a very lacy dress and a big smile, followed by various important persons. Jarred immediately stiffened, he did not like this man, there was something wrong about him, and children are usually right about these sort of things. Perhaps Leif should have listened to his three-year old when Jarred said he did not like Lord Gregory of Rulent.

* * *

**A/N:** Hello everyone!

I promise that the story will actually start in the next two chapers,I hope you enjoyed this one!

Thankyou all SO MUCH for your reveiws! It was really encouraging!

'.'.'.Jesslca'.'.'.: Thanks for your reveiw! I'm really glad that you liked it so much. I will look forward to your next reveiw and I hope that youlike this chapter!

PJ Blindclown: Hi! I know Jarred and Endon are twins but one does have to be born soon! Thanks for your review, I hope it stays interesting!

BartmanX: Here's the update you asked for!

Warui-Usagi: Thanks! You helped a lot in getting this story up! You made me join the site for a start! Thanks for yur support!


	3. Right From Under Your Nose

Author's notes:

This chapter is a revised edition of the previous one, mainly in the form of corrections. I'm sorry if I confused you in the last "draft," I hadn't checked it properly and only just realised how riddled with mistakes it was! Sorry if the weird little mistakes confused you! Thanks for reading this chapter and I would LOVE some more reviews!

_**Right From Under Your Nose**_

"What?" Leif could barely keep his mouth from falling open; Lord Gregory could not be serious. "They are far too young for us to be able to even _consider_ such a thing!" Leif looked around at the richly dressed diplomats from Camiro. In vivid green, blue and purple robes with intricate gold and silver embroidery, they were much more pleasing to the eye than the members of the Deltoran Court, whose members were garbed in dyed linens with little decoration. The Camiran's looked deadly serious, "I beg your pardon Lord Gregory," Lord Gregory nodded, "and the rest of the diplomatic party of course but this is…this is ridiculous. I cannot agree to these terms, Jarred is only three, he is _not_ going to marry Marissa, I apologise. We cannot assist you in this matter."

Anger flashed in Lord Gregory's eyes but he quickly hid it, answering Leif in his smooth manipulating voice, "Your Majesty, please, in our country a princess cannot claim the throne unless she is married, she is His Majesty, King Henry's, only child and it is his dearest wish that the throne remains in his immediate family. He is very ill and Marissa needs to be married soon, before his death, so that the throne can stay in the family. To enable Marissa to claim the throne we need a young prince and Jarred seems a very good suitor. This marriage would also secure our ties of friendship."

"Lord Gregory, please, you have our utmost sympathy for your King's illness and the friendship you offer is invaluable to this country," Doom stated clearly, he had arrived only hours before and seemed just as dumbfounded as the rest of the Deltoran Court, "but you cannot expect us to hand over a three-year old prince for marriage. Surely there must be some other way we can oblige you?"

"Yes," Jasmine cut in, "perhaps an arranged marriage at the moment and when they reach, say, eighteen years old the marriage ceremony could take place?" Even though she did not like the idea of Jarred being forced into marriage, she knew she had to be polite and diplomatic. The last time she had spoken her mind at one of these meetings; she had greatly offended someone and had received a stern, two-hour lecture from Sharn as a result.

"No," Lord Gregory stated bluntly, "that would not work."

The court erupted into a buzz of heated conversations and whispered disagreements. Using the confusion as a cover Jasmine turned to Leif and bent towards him, "Leif," she whispered into his ear, "We cannot let this happen, especially not to Jarred, he would never forgive us, is there anything we can do?"

"I am not sure, I have a _very _bad feeling that this man is not going to leave us be until he gets 0what he wants," he whispered back, there was too much discussion going on between the court and the ambassadors to notice the monarchs conversation. Leif, seeing that Jasmine was extremely concerned, gently took her hand in his, "Jarred is going to be fine, I promise, okay Jasmine, we are not going to let anything happen to him!"

"It seems the monarchs are very much against the marriage, Lord." Nikko said carefully, remembering what happened the last time he had spoken his thoughts aloud and subconsciously fingering his throat.

Lord Gregory, smiling cruelly at Nikko's obvious discomfort, agreed, "Indeed, Nikko, I see you are not as stupid as I thought." He paused and looked at each of his fellow ambassadors in turn. "It is true, the King and Queen will not agree to this marriage…what a pity."

Everyone in the room felt the hairs on the back of their necks stand n end. When Lord Gregory had said the words _'what a pity,' _his eyes had begotten a hungry, almost manic gleam.

"What's a pity, Uncle?" Marissa was walking into the richly furnished sitting room rubbing her eyes with her fists; she walked over to her Uncle and climbed onto his knee.

Well, my little darling, it is a pity that Jarred's parents will not be able to join us for your wedding. I am sure they will be _most_ upset."

"Why can't they?" Marissa was a very curious child.

"Because, darling," Lord Gregory explained in a sing song voice, tickling his niece so that she laughed loudly, "a King and Queen cannot leave their country and although we had planned to have the wedding ceremony here, the circumstances have changed and we need to change the venue."

Lord Gregory was smiling warmly at Marissa, "therefore we will be gong home tonight, so we can start the preparations for the wedding." He looked up at the rest if the ambassadors, "I have already notified some of our agents to fetch the groom and to arrange our safe departure."

Leif, Barda, Doom and Sharn were sitting in Leif's office. "The guards were drugged and the gates were forcefully opened, they obviously wanted to get away quickly without our knowledge, but that makes no sense," Barda told the assembled group.

"Nothing was taken?" Sharn prompted, "There was nothing missing?" Barda shook his head in reply. "Your right, it makes no sense for them to leave so suddenly with no reason." She shook her head and shifted on the plush couch and rearranged her skirts so she sat more comfortably. "They cannot have been that upset with the decision this morning." Leif shook his head and looked out the window, absolutely mystified at Lord Gregory's bizarre departure.

Suddenly Jasmine burst into the room clutching a seemingly sleeping Endon in her arms, she was distraught and looked around the room wildly until her eyes rested on Leif, "Endon has been drugged," she burst out, "and Jarred is not in his bed!"

Leif stood up and took his wife by the shoulders, "What?" he demanded, shaking her gently. "Are you sure he is not somewhere else in the palace?"

"Yes Leif, I am sure", there were tears running down her face as she relayed the rest of the information. "The bars on the boys window were cut out and Jarred's favourite stuffed animal was gone…they must…have taken it…with them," as she mentioned her son's name Jasmine could not help herself, she had started sobbing, she was terrified for her little boy, he had been kidnapped. _What if they did not give him enough to eat; what if he was scared; was he hurt; oh, Gods, please do not let them hurt him!_ These thoughts ran through Jasmine's mind faster than lightning. Sharn walked over and gently took Endon out of her arms, Jasmine collapsed into a rich, mahogany armchair, putting her head between her knees and gripping her ebony hair with her hands.

Leif leaned onto the wall next to her and called himself several kinds of idiot. Of course, they did have a good reason to leave, they had taken his son, his youngest little boy. Leif hit his head against the wall in punishment for his extreme stupidity. How could he not have seen this, he had realised in that meeting that Lord Gregory was a ruthless man who would not stop until he got what he wanted and he had not even thought to give Jarred, his little boy, his baby son, _any _extra protection.

He hit himself again and bent down to comfort his wife, he gently helped her up, out of her seat and held her close, soothing her as she sobbed into his chest, Leif felt numb with shock until, his stomach knotting in agony, he remembered the last 'conversation' he had had with Jarred. Then the tears finally came, he buried his head in Jasmine's hair and sobbed.

The rest of the room was in shock, Sharn was cradling Endon with tears in her eyes, Doom was staring stone-faced out the window wondering how he had let that _creature_ take his grandson away and Barda had never felt more ashamed of himself in his history as a palace guard. He was in charge of the Palace Guard and of Royal Protection and all his guards were drugged and Jarred was gone…kidnapped, right from under his nose.

Gone…

Author's Notes:

Hi everyone….Well….ah heh heh heh…its been a while then.

I can only say that while I was writing this chapter I had EXTREME writers block and for the first three drafts, it just didn't work!

Thanks for being so patient, and thanks to those who reviewed chapter two, you all ROCK!

Guardian of Atlantis: Thanks for the advice, it really helped, I tried to describe things a bit more here, but I don't think I can live up to your standard, I hope you like it anyway!

Warui-Usagi: Thank-you, your great! You know that don't you!

'.'.'.Jesslca'.'.'.: Thanks for being such a loyal reader, your reviews rock, I hope you like this chapter as much as the last two and I tried to make Leif less 'evil' in this one! ENJOY

Jasmine of the Forest: Thank-you for reviewing, I wasn't going to continue this story, but I got that one review and it helped me pull through! (God, that sounds REALLY soppy! lol!)


	4. Troubled Shores

_**Troubled Shores**_

"I want my Mama! Pleathe, I want Mama," Jarred screamed once again, "Pleathe, pleathe, take me back to my Mama!"

Jarred had been screaming for hours and no-one had come, he stopped screaming and looked around at the cabin that Lord Gregory had imprisoned him in again. It was clean and had a small bed with a stuffed straw mattress and a warm woollen blanket and plain, white sheets; his favourite toy, Bink-bink, a Kin doll that he had had longer than he could remember, lay reassuringly on the pillow. The small cabin also boasted an ornate chest for clothes; a small wooden washstand secured to the cabin walls, carved in with the same design as the chest; and a small pot and strips of plain undyed cloth for obvious uses. It was comfortable, but Jarred did not really care, if fact as he was so used to luxury this was not much of a room to him, he thought it quite dull and he felt sick because of the motion of the boat. He wanted Jasmine to come get him, she always looked after him, she always cuddled him, comforted him, she was always there, '_Why wasn't she here NOW?'_

Then, suddenly he remembered what Lord Gregory had said to him, and felt as if he **was** actually going to throw-up, _"You stay here Jarred, and if you are a good boy there will be nothing for you to worry about."_ That was what _he_ had said to him when the blind fold and those _awful_ ropes had been untied; they had not taken the gag off straight away. Jarred had been told that he was going to Camira to marry Marissa, and that his parents had been glad to be rid of him and his mischief. _"Especially," Lord Gregory had said with a sneer, "Your Father." _He remembered this last remark his eyes filled with hot tears as he thought of how much his Father had yelled at him that morning, it _must _be true, his Father did not love him, he had given him to Lord Gregory to get rid of him.

Jarred lay down as the tears fell from his eyes and down his cheeks and pulled the blanket up over his head. He rolled over so that he was curled up around Binky. He lay there alone, without his mother there to comfort him, in that bare, dark room and cried himself to sleep.

Endon was sitting under the climbing tree, this was The Place, whenever the twins wanted to play by themselves, or perhaps set up a plan to set the Grand Duchess of Tamar's dress on fire; The Place was where they went.

Endon squeezed his kin doll, Kinky, very tightly, he was very scared for his little brother. He always knew how Jarred was feeling, and he knew that right now, his little brother felt really, really scared and really, really upset. He thought of how he had woken up last night, feeling his brother, curling into a ball to mimic what his brother was doing hundreds of miles away, and moaning over and over again, 'They don't love me, they don't love me…" That was what Jarred was saying, that was how Jarred was feeling, and Endon could _not_ bear it.

Jasmine could not eat, she could not drink, and she could not sleep. She shook where she sat, she suffered from anxiety attacks, she needed her little boy back, she _needed_ to hold him and tell him how much she loved him. "_Oh, that evil man, I am going to make him pay, he is going to rue the day the demons of Hell ever spawned him."_

For three days, she had been barely alive, but now it was if she was waking up from a terrible nightmare as a clear thought finally punctured through her misery, _"I have to go and get him."_

"_Leif will never let you,"_ said the practical part of her brain, _"he will say that it is too dangerous."_

"_I'll just have to make him see that I have to go!"_

_­­-_

Leif could not read the page in front of him, it blurred before his eyes, and he could not read a thing about the agricultural state of Dread Mountain. He had tried to rouse support from other neighbouring countries to help get his son back but all of their replies, although sympathetic, had been useless. The tone of all of the correspondence being, "_We are terribly sorry but our relationship with Camiro is an important political matter for us, and we cannot endanger it," _in other words, they were all terrified of what the world power would do if they went against their wishes.

"_Oh Gods, I need to save him, I need to get him back. Endon is pining after him; I have not seen him touch his food for the last three day. He's scaring the living daylights out of me, I still can't believe what he said last night, it sent chills running up and down my spine, 'he's scared Daddy, he wants to come home, but he's scared you don't love him anymore…he's scared.'_

"_And Jasmine, my poor dear Jasmine, she is haunted, she hasn't gotten out of bed in days, she looks terrible…but I don't suppose I look any better…"_

"I have got to get him back!"

Hope you enjoyed it!

Thankyou so much to everyone who reviewed, especially Jasmine of the Forest and Purple Light, you two are the reason I am continuing this story.

Please, please leave any constructive criticism on your way out, now please push the lovely lilac button and REVIEW!

_Obsidian Crystal_


	5. Come Back Safe

Hello, everyone, how are you all?

Good, I hope, _now_, here is the fifth chapter in "New Beginnings" I hope you enjoy it, especially Purple Light, to whom this chapter is dedicated!

Now, enjoy, read and REVIEW!

_Obsidian Crystal_

* * *

_**Come Back Safe**_

Jarred woke up to find a horrifying image in front of him, an impossibly huge woman, with a very large bosom saying, "Oh, poor Poppet, you had a little cry did you, now we can't have that now, can we, here Poppet, and Nursie will give you a cuddle."

'Nursie' picked him up and (apparently) tried to suffocate him in her hugeness, Jarred, used to being held by Jasmine, who was possibly the smallest person in Deltora, started to scream. "Oh, Poppet, Poppet, what's wrong, now?" Nursie cried in distressed tones, "Are you hungry? Oh you little dear, I'll warrant you are, and all excited from yesterday too, hey? Now you wait right here, and I'll bring you back something nice and hot." With that, and to Jarred's great relief, she let go of him and scurried out of the room.

Jarred calmed down slightly grabbed Binky, and got up out of bed. He walked around the cabin a few times, stumbling slightly because of the motion of the boat, until Nursie came back, with a tray piled with steaming food. Three pancakes, a bowl of porridge and brown, pruney dates and a glass of orange juice. The toddler suddenly realised how hungry he was and scoffed and gulped and munched on the delicious meal. Nursie seemed incredibly pleased with his appetite, and smiling, asked in a singsong, baby-talking voice, "Now there, Poppet, that's lovely now ain't it?"

"Yeth, thank-you," food sprayed out of Jarred's mouth and rather foiled his attempt at politeness, Nursie only smiled wider.

"Now then, you finish up and then I'll take you up a little way to Marissa's room and you two can have a lovely little play, then, hey?"

Jarred stiffened, _Marissa_, Lord Gregory had said something about her... _"Be nice to my little niece, your life is going to revolve around her from now on, her wish is your command…"_ Jarred already did not like her. In fact, he did not like anyone on this ship. He felt the knot in his stomach tighten again as Nursie took him by the hand and led him out of the room. They came out into a narrow hall, panelled in the same way as his room, with three doors about five metres apart, two on each side, including his.

Nursie stopped in front of a door that was slightly more decorative than the rest, with roses carved into it. Nursie put her hand on the doorknob and opened the door, the room it led to was very much like Jarred's; but held a lot more personal effects, toys, flowery bed sheets and a drawing desk covered with pencils and paper. "Hello, Dearie, I brung you a lovely little boy to play with for the day, see here, Dearie, now this is Jarred." Nursie introduced him to the rather small, redheaded girl in sitting at the drawing desk with her pencils, making what seemed to be a mess of scribbles and colour on the page.

"Hello, _my_ name is Marissa Gerleesa Maria De Courtenay, I am _very _pleased to meet you," Marissa introduced herself with lordly precision.

"Ummm, er, well, my name ith Jarred," said Jarred.

Marissa, at the grand total age of three did not look impressed with his vocabulary _or_ his name.

"Oh," she said, "That's a bit of a _common_ name isn't it?"

Jarred looked furious.

"Now," said Nursie, "you two have met and I'm sure your going to be nice and cosy

in here, now I'll just go sit here in the corner and if everything isn't hunk-dory, you come and get me, okay my darlin's?"

"Oh, but upon my little word you both look so precious together," Nursie sniffed, looking down on the two toddlers who clearly hated each other and were taking great pains not to stand any closer than three feet away from each other. With that said, the old dear waddled towards an old, rickety rocking chair and sat down; pulling out some knitting from one of the many pockets in her bright white apron and immediately the frosty silence was replaced by the steady clicking of the two metal hooks clacking against each other.

Jarred slowly lowered himself to the floor and began to play make-believe with Binky, while Marissa went back to her drawing, it was going to be a long voyage to Camira.

* * *

Jasmine walked to her husband's office, her head held high, her hair clean, brushed and braided down her back, dressed in a pair of low-slung black leggings, and a green, wide necked blouse, with black boots, her teeth clean and her mouth set in a hard, straight line. Jasmine looked better than she had in days and she was serious; people were scurrying out of her wake in fright.

"She has _that_ look on her face," said one of the older maids.

"What look?"

"The one that means that she is going to talk and Leif is going to listen, and do _exactly_ what she tells him to."

"Oh," said the younger maid, she felt incredibly sorry for the King at the moment…

* * *

Jasmine opened the door and walked into Leif's office, for all her bravado, she was actually ready to collapse at any minute. She was going into that office with her last high hopes: for Leif to allow her to go after her son.

"Leif," she whispered softly, if her husband's nerves were tense before, they were positively high-strung now.

He still flinched slightly before he looked up, "Yes, Jasmine," he took one look at her face and knew what she was about to ask him.

Jasmine walked over to him and knelt by his chair, taking his hands in hers, "Leif, you know I have to go after him, you _know_ it. I have to get him back, we have to get him back, or he will never, ever forgive us. I cannot lose him, Leif; I cannot lose another member of my family, especially when I just truly got one." Tears had started to fall from her bright, green eyes as they were from Leif's blue ones.

"Jasmine, please, I want him back too, but not at the expense of your life!"

"Leif, if I lose him, really and truly lose him, my life will not be worth living, Jarred will never forgive me, and neither will Endon. Our children will see us forever as two cowards who could not take a risk to save our son. I cannot let them see me like that," Jasmine was gripping his hand so tightly he was starting to lose all sensation of his fingers. He knew he could not say 'no' to her, he knew that he could not, _would not_ let his children see him as a coward.

There was silence in the room; Lief was finding it hard to speak.

_Silence_

_A breeze ruffled the leaves outside the window_

_A bright, red-feathered bird called to his mate_

Then, "Yes, you may go," Leif bent forward and brought Jasmine's lips to his.

"But please," he said, "come back safe."

* * *

Outside the door to his father's office Endon closed his eyes and squeezed Kinky, _It's going to be okay, Jarred, Mama's coming to get you. _

* * *

Okay, and there you have it: the fifth instalment of "New Beginnings."

Now, please Review! Please, it would make me feel very happy, and the next chapter will come out ever so much sooner!

Bye, Bye!

_Obsidian Crystal _(In case you haven't noticed, I like "signing" my name! he he he

Bye! (for real this time)

(Or is it!)


	6. A Plan

And, da da da duuuuuum, here is the sixth chapter of my story, _New Beginnings_.

READ and ENJOY and REVIEW! Please Review!

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_**The Plan**_

Endon ran away as he heard his mother walking to the door, and went to find Anna; up endless corridors and winding marble staircases, most adults were amazed that the three young royals could find their way around the palace so well, especially as most of them had great trouble finding their way down to the Great Hall.

"Annie, Annie!" Endon called to his big sister as he catapulted himself into the huge suit of rooms that belonged to the Royal Family.

"What?" Anna had been very sad lately, she missed her little brother terribly, since he had left, there had been no one for her to dress up as Baby so that they could play at families. He had looked so cute with a baby bonnet on too, even if he _had_ complained about it a lot. Endon would not let her dress _him_ up, he said he was too big to play Baby (even though he and Jarred were as like as two grey guards from a pod) besides, Jarred was the baby in the family anyway, so that is why he should be Baby in the game.

"Mama is going to go and get Ja-Ja!"

"Really? Are you sure, I did not think that Daddy would let her." Anna looked doubtful; Daddy was very protective of Mama. She did not think he would let her go on her own.

"Yes! I just heard them talking, Mama was crying and asking him to let her go, so that we would not think she was a scaredy-cat!"

"I would NEVER think Mama was a scaredy-cat," said Anna with fierce loyalty, Mama was her favourite person in the world, "she is the bravest person ever!"

"Well, neither did I, but maybe Ja-Ja would, he is all alone and scared, he might think that it was really mean of Mama and Daddy not to go and get him. And I heard him thinking the other night." Unlike her parents, Anna was unperturbed by this revelation, she had known her brothers could tell what the other was thinking for ages. "I think that Jarred is not sure wether we still love him or not!"

"Oh!" cried Anna, how terrible, poor Ja-Ja. "Well, then. The sooner Mama goes and picks him up, the better then!"

"That was what I thought, but what if she cannot _find_ him, what if they hide him?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if they figure out that Mama is coming and hide him so she cannot find him? Then she will have to come home without him. So, that's why I think I should go with her," Endon said firmly, he had thought about this all last night, and he had decided that if they hid Jarred, then he would have to be their to find him again.

"Oh, how _wonderfully fun_, how are you going to do it?" Anna was thrilled, just think, two of her little brothers going on an adventure, of course, she could not go, but as long as they told everything to her when they got back, it would make a fascinating story.

"I'm going to _stow-away _on the ship that Mama leaves on," said Jarred proudly, obviously this was as far as his plan had gotten.

"How are you going to do that without Mama or Daddy seeing you?" Anna, always practical, was incredulous.

"We-ell, I'm not _really_ sure, that is why I am telling you, 'cause you're good at planning stuff like that," Jarred stated entreatingly.

Anna went bright pink, she was flattered, of course, _that_ was why Jarred told her, so she could smooth out the plan for him. He was only little after all, very clever at three; both he and Jarred had walked at eight months and started talking two months after their first birthday, but they still needed someone to work out the bumps in the road for them.

"Okay, I know exactly what you should do Donny," she said, and then bent her head towards him to give him instructions.

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"Do you understand Donny?" He and Anna had gone over their "plan" many times now, it had been over an hour since Endon had come out with his illustrious idea and they were both utterly convinced it was perfect…

"Yes, Anna, I do," Jarred said seriously, Anna was so clever, he and Ja-Ja could come up with all sorts of great ideas, but it was their big sister who put them together and made things like setting the Grand Duchess of Tamar's dress on fire really work.

"Endon, Anna, Jar-, I mean, you two, dinner is served," Jasmine opened the door and was met by two extremely sweet and innocent looking faces: she immediately knew something was wrong.

"What are you two planning? Your not going to set someone else on fire are you?"

Jasmine could remember what a nightmare that had been, the children had apologised to the Duchess, but it had made things incredibly difficult for Leif to forge some bonds of friendship with that country. _Not_ that Jasmine had particularly minded the "Grand Duchess" being set on fire; she had made many previous hints that Kings should not marry common girls and that a marriage to say, herself, would have ensured a more noble bloodline for the heirs. Leif had not been to keen on her either, and both him and Jasmine had laughed long and hard about her dilemma._ After_ they had _yelled_ long and hard at their children; what Leif had said the other day about Endon not getting into trouble was not strictly true, it was just that Jarred was the one who came up with most of the ideas.

"It was only her _dress_," said Anna indignantly, "its not like she got burnt or anything, at least, not badly, and we pored _heaps_ of that old cold soup over her!"

"Yes, well, what are you up to now?"

"Nothing what-so-ever," Anna said and Jarred nodded vigorously. Jasmine smiled for the first time in days, wicked and mischievous they might be but they were also very, very cute. Besides, they had not been very happy lately, if this cheered them up, then maybe it was for the better.

"Alright then, come on, you must be hungry," she said, bending down to pick up Endon and give him a kiss on the nose, "it is time for dinner." She set her oldest son back on the floor, took his and Anna's hands, and led them to the dining hall.

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Ha ha ha ha!

That was so much fun! I just wanted to write a cutesy chapter today, with a little bit of plot in there! I hoped you all liked this. This chapter is my dedicated to my two "anonymous" reviewers Jasmine Is Nice and Deltora fanatic! Thankyou heaps!

Of course, thanks also goes to Purple Light and Warui-Usagi, my two favourite and dedicated reviewers!


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